California Cookbook

Rajas con crema (Charred poblano pepper strips with cream)

By Lesley Tellez | Aug. 11, 2012

When I was a kid growing up in the Inland Empire, my idea of Mexican comfort food was a flour tortilla plucked from a plastic bag, lined with one square of American cheese and zapped until bubbly in the microwave. ...
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Total time: 40 minutes | Serves 8

Note: This is a lighter version of what's usually a decadent dish. If you want the luxurious version, skip the chicken broth and stir in at least one cup of Mexican crema or to taste. Be sure to use Mexican crema and not sour cream. Crema is available at any Latino supermarket. Creme fraiche is an acceptable substitute.

Step 1Using tongs, char the poblano peppers over an open gas flame until blackened in spots on all sides. (If using an electric stove, char peppers on a comal or dry skillet over high heat.) Be careful not to overcook them or else they'll turn limp and slimy -- you don't want a deep black burn but a sort of speckling of black and brown. Once peppers are charred, wrap them in a dish towel or paper bag. When cool, rub off the skin using your fingers or a paper towel. Try not to rinse them under water or you'll lose some of the charred flavor.

Step 2Once peeled, cut open each chile and scrape out seeds and veins. Cut the chiles into strips 2 inches long and one-half-inch wide.

Step 3In a large skillet heated over medium heat, add the oil. Stir in the onion and cook until soft and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the chiles and broth and bring to a simmer, then stir in the crema. Bring to a simmer again and stir in the cheese, stirring until the cheese is melted and creamy. This makes about 4 cups rajas con crema. Season to taste with salt and serve warm with tortillas.

When I was a kid growing up in the Inland Empire, my idea of Mexican comfort food was a flour tortilla plucked from a plastic bag, lined with one square of American cheese and zapped until bubbly in the microwave.

Now, as a third-generation Mexican American woman living in Mexico City, I'm slowly getting to know the foods of my ancestors. My new comfort food -- what I choose to cook at home most days of the week -- is a dish I never knew as a child: guisado.

The word guisado is an umbrella term for a stewed mixture, usually meat or vegetables simmered in chile sauce or tomatoes. Most guisados contain a short list of ingredients (they're not like moles), but when done well, they're unforgettable. Chile sauces coax out the flavors of the meat. Vegetables, mixed with garlic and onion and broth, taste like the universe intended them to: hearty and unadorned.

The most interesting thing about guisados is how all-encompassing they are. Like a Chinese stir-fry or an American casserole, a guisado can really be anything, as long as it's served with tortillas.

"They're really just home braises," says Armando De La Torre, owner of Guisados restaurant in Boyle Heights, which carries 15 guisados daily served with the requisite tortillas. "The ingredients are readily available anywhere around town. I make my mom's carne con chile colorado, which was my favorite meal growing up. Even today she asks me what I want for my birthday, and I say carne con chile colorado."

For me, guisados were a gateway into the richness of interior Mexican cuisine. At fondas, or at stands on the street, I'd see women scooping vegetables from clay pots. When I finally worked up the courage to ask for a taco in my halting Spanish, the taste was a revelation.

Under the guidance of my local market vendors, who gave me detailed cooking instructions, I started whipping up my own one-pot guisados: oyster mushrooms with chipotle, native tender greens called quelites with tomatoes. Even chili, the thing I used to eat canned, became a homemade " guisado de pavo molido con frijol," or ground-turkey guisado with beans.

My crowning moment as a cook came six months ago, when I bought a bag of quelites at my local market. A Mexican woman asked me how to prepare them.